Pages

Monday, February 17, 2014

Liza O'Connor's Coming to Reason Blog Tour (+Giveaway)

To be honest, I don't have a great deal of control over my characters. I create them by throwing bits and pieces of myself and various people I've met into a big pot and stirring. Then out pops a character. Sometimes wearing clothes, other times we have to go shopping.

Trent popped out wearing a custom tailored Italian suit, while Carrie popped out in sweats and her hair pulled back in a rubber band.

Sam came out naked, but we won't go there. Today we are focused on Trent and Carrie. They were the most unlikely of couples. They appeared to have nothing in common.

To be honest, I threw them together, because I thought the combo would be funny. And they were to many readers. I've 42 -5 stars declaring book one hilarious. But I also labeled it a DISASTER ROMANCE because let's be honest. This was a terrible pairing:.

Only when Trent realized Carrie was important in HIS happiness did he make an effort to be nice to her. And even then, he was still horrible 40 percent of the time. Over time they did find a few things they had in common:

They both had terrible parents and sibling issues.

They both loved Trent.

They both disliked a great deal of their employees.

They both wanted to keep his business out of bankruptcy.

They both have a penchant for getting in trouble. (They get that from me.)

He was needy and she needed to be needed.

But these commonalities don't make a good relationship, they make a great reason to see a therapist.

Nonetheless most of my readers fell in love with Trent, if not in book one, then in book two where he genuinely tried to be a better man. But let's put on our therapist hat and ask

Why has he fallen in love with Carrie?

His initial reason for being nice to her was because his life was easier and better with her managing everything.

Then she fell in love with him, and he discovered he loved being loved. She's the only person who has EVER loved him. Everyone else pretty much hates him.

And why has Carrie fallen for Trent?

Because he seems, maybe...to love her, and she is starving for love.

In other words: They love each other because each desperately needs to be loved.

I could interview a thousand therapists, and none would state this is a healthy relationship.

Remaining problems with Trent.

Even at the end of Book 2, Trent is only 80% there. He still can't remember the name of the town Carrie lives in or her favorite drink, which proves his egoistic perception of life remains intact. He doesn't like other men talking to Carrie, which reveals an underlying mistrust in her and his ability to keep her. He blows up and attacks her competency the moment anything goes wrong with his business. His main reason for wanting to marry is to 'lock her in' so he won't lose her.

On the last point, he has reasons to worry. He's keeping secrets from her that could (and will in Book 3) come back to bite him.

Remaining problems with Carrie.

On Carrie's part, her desire to do and fix everything for Trent prevents him from growing up and taking responsibility for his actions. Thus, her need to be needed is hurting his ability to progress.

The Truth.

As much as we love them, and want a HEA for them, Trent and Carrie's relationship is unhealthy and they need to break up. However, there is no way these two will give up on each other unless Trent's past mistakes blow up in a manner than convinces Carrie he never loved her.

Creating such a situation was remarkably easy, since a Lancaster never explain himself. Had she heard his confession to the priest in Book 4, she would have stayed with him. So I let him botch his explanation to her so they could move on and find healthier relationships.

Parting is good for everyone.

Carrie finds a solid guy who is perfect for her in Book 3. Trent gets to grow up and be the hero in Book 4. He'll become everything you wanted him to be. You'll be so proud of him.

I hope everyone will realize that all the time they've invested in these two is NOT wasted. This break allows each of them to become stronger and better. While breaking up is hard, doing so can be a positive action for all involved. This is a healthy progression down the Long Road to Love for both. I just hurts really bad when it happens.

Be sure to copy the link to this page to you can reread it once you finish Book 3. I'm making all the hitmen sent my way read Book 4. So far they've all left me alive, because they agree both Carrie and Trent are in a better place by the end of Book 4.

One even said: God abuv, dis is de best story I eva read. It give me hope dat someday I find de purfecta woman for me. Someday, I be loved.

I suggested he change careers before he hunts his poor woman down.

Apologies to all Italians.

(Apologies to all Italian readers for my horrible attempt at writing Mafia slang. To be honest, I've only had my life threatened once by a Mafia hood, and his threats to blow my head off with a hundred people watching, while stuck in a traffic jam, remains quite vivid, but all he said is "Doya know who I am? I cud blow ur head off right here, right here, and no one will stop me." I needed different words, so I tried to imagine how he'd say other nicer things.)

Be sure to learn from my errors. When you are in a traffic jam and someone behind you is blaring their horn. Do not fly them the bird. They might be Mafia.

Coming to Reason

Book 3: A Long Road to Love

Humorous Contemporary Disaster Romance

Blurb: Carrie has committed to an inter-species engagement with Trent, her billionaire boss. Presently, he is eight percent dreamboat and twenty percent nightmare. When he fires her so they can become a 'normal couple', everything heads south.

Providing her a stark contrast, her new boss, Dan Marshal, is everything a woman could want. But for Carrie, her heart is taken and thus, her path to reason remains long and arduous.

When her relationship with Trent explodes in a shocking fashion, finally her heart gives up and reason takes over. She realizes a brighter future and a better man has been at her side all this time. But can she overcome the obstacle in her path to secure him? Or is Carrie doomed to never know true love?

Warning: If you loved Carrie and Trent as a couple, this book may break your heart.

Liza O'Connor writes books that speak to my soul. Carrie is a character you will not soon forget. --Rebecca Royce, author of The Warrior series.

I only have one thing to say about Liza O'Connor's A Long Road to Love series: Read them. They're funny. You won't regret it! --Maria Hammarblad, author of Kidnapped.

Dan let himself out of the limo, something Trent still wouldn't do, and headed to the office door. His brow remained furrowed until his gaze settled on her, then a smile brightened his handsome face.

"Carrie! What a pleasant surprise." Leaning down, he kissed both her cheeks in greeting. While Dan didn't possess Trent's height, he still towered over her. "Are you by chance wishing to speak to me?"

"If you have time."

He glanced at his watch and the furrows in his brow returned. "Fifteen minutes, before a meeting I've called. If you need more time, hopefully, you can wait an hour for the meeting to be finished."

"More than fair since I didn't make an appointment."

His head tilted as he studied her. "Which is unlike you."

"True, but I didn't know I needed a job until yesterday, when Trent decided the time had come for him to grow up and run his own company."

Dan led her to the elevator with his hand rested on her back. "Really?" His tone turned happy upon hearing her state of unemployment, but she let it slide.

"Evidently, he made the decision a while back, but didn't bother to share it with me until yesterday."

Dan's smile grew more pronounced, borderline celebratory. Once they entered the elevator and the doors closed, she wrinkled her nose at him. "Well, I'm glad my unemployment makes you happy. I expected a stern lecture after the last time I asked you to get me an interview."

His smile disappeared. "Good point. Is this a real job you want, or are you trying to get rid of one of Trent's groupies?"

She laughed. "Trent doesn't have groupies. And this is a real job I want. We've decided to become a normal couple with daily time off from each other. Otherwise, Trent will continue to rely on my too much."

For some reason, her reply saddened him.

Links

A Long Road to Love

Book 1

Worst Week Ever

"Love this book and couldn't stop laughing from beginning to end." 5 stars --Alves - Amazon

67 reviews: 4.3 stars

Book 2

Oh Stupid Heart

"Be warned though, this book is completely different from The Worst Week Ever. Yes, there is still humor, dry wit, situation that you would think...NOT AGAIN but this one humanizes Trent more." 5 stars --Brian's Mom - Amazon

8 reviews: 4.8 stars

Book 3

Coming to Reason

Other books by Liza O'Connor

Author Bio: Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania.

She's an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and a dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to created interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.

13 comments:

I'd love to win Worst Week Ever. My email address is lindalou (at) cfl (dot) rr (dot) com AND... yes, I've had a relationship fall apart suddenly without knowing why... more than once. They happened many years ago but I can still remember the shock and confusion... Thanks for the giveaway!

I've got to see what happens to blow up in Trent's and Carrie's faces, after all the crazy things in book one and two... it's going to be pretty bad and I'm sure there will be some humor in it as well!

Well, there is humor following up to the moment she faces him, but I just cried and got angry after that. But the horror of his actions helped me get over him. Then, I calmed down and went to check on him, and it turned out he had thought he was doing all this for Carrie. It will take a priest to make him see he was just thinking of himself in the long run. That realization fundamentally changes him. In book four, he'll become the man Carrie had thought him capable of becoming. However, to do that, he's going to need to die first. So things remain a bit complicated there.

I had one or two that imploded without explanation. The big one though I found that I was so angry and hurt, no tears though but it certainly left me more vulnerable in future relationships, they "why" question always is in the back of my mind.

I've never had a relationship blow up for no reason. Perhaps because I had so few of them and they all kind of died a lingering death because I wouldn't let go. LOL This is such a fabulous series, Liza. Kudos to you!